In late 2012, the year in which the calendar of the Mayas marked the end of the current age, a short message broadcasted on newschannels was the beginning of the end. The end of the world, as we knew it. A young woman, stabbed to death in a suburb of paris, came back to life in the pathology departement of the hospital. A worker there informed asap the well-known french newspaper "Le Monde", and the news was spread all over the world - yet tagged as unconfirmed miracle.

12 hours later the broadcasting stations were in panic, 24 hours later abandoned. All people dying or being dead less than 30 hours came back to life - but it was not a holy miracle, not a deed from god, it was the total madness. Filled with greed for the flesh of the living, the undead flooded the cities, the towns, the villages. Those who weren`t eaten alive but only bitten turned into the same rotten state as their attackers. Mankind was about to perish, transformed into a perverted form of unlive.

Many theories came up, one of them claiming that the incidents had something today with a meteor passing earth the day before. Others believed that a virus, developed for ultimate biological warfare, had caused the undying. And many spiritual men and women, believers from many different religions, thought that Luzifer himself has unleashed the hell on earth. The pope sent out an official Vatikan Bulletin, saying that the end of days had come, and that those who are faithfull will be saved by the lord.
Three days later he was eaten alive.

But among the madness, among the dead walking the earth, the true miracle happened all over the world: We did NOT perish. Mankind faced extinction, but the extinction was not completed yet.

In save regions, guarded by local men and women in arms, by special forces, army troops or simply by the armed & dangerous zivilians, mankind surved. We call those save havens "Whitelands", because Earth itself has become a very dark place for us. There are some hundreds of Whitelands all over the world, some of them totally isolated and populated by only a few, some in contact with others and counting thousands of survivors. Strict rules and military discipline is a daily routine for those who want to survive. Some Whitelands have fallen to the undead menace, some have survived struggling, and some have even managed to expand their borders. Mankind is on the very edge of extinction, but still it is fighting.

You are staff seargant Henry Miller, a veteran of the War in Iraq and one of the few American survivers of the U.S. attack on the Iran in 2011. Serving under Lt. Col. Mark Kinnley, you are responsible for the security of an army-operated Whiteland in Montana. Your base is integrated into the remains of the military infrasturcture of the USA and communicating with many other Whitelands all over the world.

Your job is to collect survivors as well as eliminating threats that are coming close. And they are coming close, your Whiteland is under permanent attack, and the surrounding towns are often overran by the rotten ones.

Survive, don´t get bitten, and help your superiours to find out why the legendary "Whiteland Oetscher", located in the Austrian Alps 80 miles away from Vienna, manages to expand its borders almost every week, fighting off the undead menace more effective than your well-equipped men.

„Dark Earth“ is a Pen & Paper scenario with a strong focus on post-apocalyptic survival in a world overran by zombies. It can be apllied to both the official Zombie P&P and GURPS. Written by Samuel Miller, who has also created „Himmlers Schoggothe“ for „Call of Cthulhu“, and several fantasy-based scenarios, it`s one of the most gruesome scenarios to play within.

Dark Earth: Vienna Calling is scheduled for release late 2008 / early 2009.